Then the barge rasped among the reeds where Arthur sat on his horse,
and the lady said:

'Greeting to you, O king!'

'Greeting, fair damsel!' replied Arthur. 'What sword is that which the
arm holdeth above the water? I would it were mine, for I have none.'

'Sir king,' said the lady, 'that sword is mine; but if ye will give me
a gift when I ask it of you, and will swear an oath to give me back the
sword when ye shall be dying, then shall ye have it.'

'By my faith, I will give ye the gift when ye shall desire, and when I
am dying I will truly give back the sword.'

'Then do you step into this barge and row yourself unto the hand and
take from it the sword. And know ye that the name of that sword is
Excalibur, and while you keep the scabbard by your side, ye shall lose
no blood, be ye never so sore wounded.'

So King Arthur and Merlin alighted, tied their horses to two stunted
trees, and went into the barge. The king turned to look to where the
tall green lady had stood but a moment before, and marvelled to see
that she had vanished.

When they came to the sword which the hand held, King Arthur saw that
the water where the hand rose forth was all troubled, and he could see
naught. He took the sword by the handle, and the great fingers of the
hand opened and then sank. So they came afterwards to the land, and
rode on their way to Camelot, and reached it after many days.

When King Arthur entered his hall, and had been welcomed by his
knights, the seneschal brought forth a messenger, who had come from
King Rience of North Wales, and the man with insolent looks uttered
this message:

'My lord, King Rience, hath but now discomfited and overwhelmed seven
kings, and each hath done him homage, and given him for a sign of their
subjection their beard clean cut from their chins. And my lord hath
caused a rich mantle to be hemmed with these kings' beards, and there
yet lacketh one place. Wherefore my lord hath sent me to demand that ye
give him homage and send him thy beard also. Or else he will enter thy
lands, and burn and slay and lay waste, and will not cease until he
hath thy head as well as thy beard.'

'Now this is the most shameful message that any man sent to a king!'
said Arthur, 'and thy king shall rue his villainous words.' Then he
laughed a little grimly. 'Thou seest, fellow, that my beard is full
young yet to make a hem. So take this message back to thy master. If he
will have it, he must wait until I grow older; but yet he shall not
wait long before he sees me, and then shall he lose his head, by the
faith of my body, unless he do homage to me.'

So the messenger departed, and King Arthur set about the ordering of
his army to invade the land of Rience.

Later, on a day when the king sat in council with his barons and
knights, there came a damsel into the hall, richly beseen and of a fair
countenance. She knelt at the feet of the king, and said humbly:

'O king, I crave a boon of ye, and by your promise ye shall grant it
me.'

'Who are ye, damsel?' asked the king.

'My lord, my lady mother hath sent me, and she is the Lady of the
Lake.'

'I remember me,' said Arthur, 'and thou shalt have thy boon.'

Whereat the damsel rose and let her mantle fall, that was richly
furred, and then they saw that she was girded about the waist with a
great sword.

Marvelling, the king asked, 'Damsel, for what cause are ye girded with
that sword?'

'My lord,' said the damsel, in distress and sadness, 'this sword that I
am girded withal, doth me great sorrow and remembrance. For it was the
sword of him I loved most tenderly in all the world, and he hath been
slain by falsest treachery by a foul knight, Sir Garlon, and nevermore
shall I be joyful. But I would that my dear love be avenged by his own
good sword, which my lady mother hath endowed with great enchantment.
And the knight of thine that shall draw this sword shall be he who
shall avenge my dead love. But he must be a clean knight, a good man of
his hands and of his deeds, and without guile or treachery. If I may
find such a knight, he shall deliver me of this sword, out of the
scabbard, and with it do vengeance for me.'

'This is a great marvel,' said King Arthur, 'and while I presume not to
be such a knight as thou sayest, yet for ensample to my knights will I
essay to draw the sword.'

Therewith the king took the scabbard and drew at the sword with all his
strength, but in no wise could he make it come forth.

'Sir,' said the damsel, 'ye need not draw half so hard, for lightly
shall it come into the hands of him who shall draw it.'

Then the king bade all his knights to attempt this feat, and all tried
their best, but it was of no avail.

'Alas!' said the damsel in great sadness. 'And shall my dear love go
unavenged, because there is no knight here who shall achieve this
sword?'

She turned away through the crowd of knights who stood abashed about
her, and went towards the door.

It happened that there was a poor knight in the court of King Arthur,
who had been a prisoner for a year and a day, by reason of his having
slain a kinsman of the king's. His name was Sir Balin the Hardy, and he
was a good man of his hands, though needy. He had been but lately
released from durance, and was standing privily in the hall and saw the
adventure of the damsel with the sword. Whereat his heart rose, both to
do the deed for the sorrowing maid and because of her beauty and
sadness. Yet, being poor and meanly arrayed, he pushed not forward in
the press.

But as the damsel went towards the door, she passed him, and he said:

'Damsel, I pray you of your courtesy to suffer me as well to essay as
these knights, for though I be poorly clothed, my heart seemeth fully
assured that I may draw the sword, and thy sorrow moveth me.'

The damsel lifted her large sad eyes to him, and she saw he was goodly
of form and noble of look, and her heart was stirred.

'Though ye be poor, worthiness and manhood are not in a man's rich
raiment, and therefore,' she said with a sorrowful smile, 'do you essay
the sword also, good knight, and God speed you.'

Balin took the sword by the scabbard, and drew it out easily, and when
he looked upon the sword it pleased him well.

Then had the king and barons great marvel, but some of the knights had
great spite against Balin.

'Truly,' said the damsel, 'this is a passing good knight, and the best
man of ye all, and many marvels shall he achieve. But now, gentle and
courteous knight,' she said, 'give me the sword again.'

'Nay, this sword will I keep,' said Balin.

'Ye are not wise,' said the maiden sorrowfully. 'My lady mother sent
the sword to find which was the knight the most worthy to rid the world
of an evil knight that doeth his foul treacheries and murders by
wizardry, but if ye keep the sword it shall work great bane on you and
on one you love most in this world.'

'I shall take the adventure God shall ordain for me,' said Balin, 'be
it good or ill.'

The damsel looked sadly into his eyes and wept.

'I am passing heavy for your sake,' she said. 'I repent that I have
brought this to you, for I see you lying wounded unto death, and I
shall not be near to comfort you.'

With that the damsel departed in great sorrow.

Anon Balin sent for his horse and armour, and took his leave of King
Arthur, who was almost wroth that he should depart upon a quest that
promised but misfortune. He would have him stay with him in his court,
but Balin would not, and so departed.

For many days, by lonely ways and through forest drives, Sir Balin
fared, seeking for the felon knight Sir Garlon, but nowhere could he
get word of him. At length one night, as he made his way to a hermitage
by the edge of a thick wood, he saw the arms of his younger brother,
Sir Balan, hung upon a thorn before the holy man's door. Just then Sir
Balan came out and saw him, and when he looked on Balin's shield, which
had two crossed swords, he recognised his brother's device, and ran to
him, and they met and kissed each other, and that night they were happy
together, for it had been long since that they had parted; and each
told the other his adventures.

'It seemeth, then, that this King Arthur is a right worshipful lord,'
said Balan, when his brother had told him the adventure of the damsel
and the sword, 'but I doubt me he will not withstand King Rience and
his host. Already that king hath come into this land and is harrying
and burning.'

'That were great pity,' said Balin, 'and I would that I could do some
deed to stay the power of Rience, who is evil-minded and of an arrogant
nature. I would put my life in any danger to win the love of the great
Arthur, and to punish King Rience for his shameful message.'

'Let us go then to-morrow,' said Balan, 'and try our prowess. King
Rience lieth at the siege of the castle Terabil, within ten leagues of
this place.'

'I will well,' said Balin, 'and if we slay King Rience, his people will
go astray and King Arthur shall easily make them yield.'

Next morning early they rode away through the gay woods, drenched with
dew, which sparkled where the sunlight lit upon it. Long and lonely was
the way, until towards the evening they met with a poor old man on
foot, ragged, lame, and dirty, and bearing a great burden. It was in a
narrow ride of the forest, and there was but room for one person to
pass, and though the brothers were making great speed, since they
doubted they had lost their way, they would not ride down the poor man,
as many knights would do.

But Balin, with a cheery call, said: 'Old man, give me thy pack, and do
thou climb up and sit behind me. For it is late and lonely that such
poor old bones as thine should be abroad.'

The old man, either from fear of the two great knights in their black
armour, or from suspicion,